Happy Easter!
A joyous and blessed Easter to you! We had a beautiful celebration of the liturgies of the Triduum and Easter. The days of the triduum are observed as days of retreat and silence. The usual schedule is shifted to accommodate the changes in the liturgy, which gives these days a certain character all their own, particularly in the emptiness of Good Friday afternoon after the service, when according to the liturgical norms, Vespers is not prayed. Holy Saturday’s emptiness, with no Mass in the morning, has a quality of anticipation, and sisters begin their preparations for Easter.
Holy Saturday was a very windy night, and we had difficulties getting the paschal candle lit and keeping it lit, but the light of Christ (and Fr. Elias!) triumphed in the end. After the Vigil Mass, we celebrate the Resurrection with a quiet Gaudeamus in the refectory, greeting each other quietly but joyfully, and enjoying cheese and crackers, cookies, hot chocolate, and other goodies to break the Lenten fast. Easter Sunday is a community recreation day, where Sisters are free to spend the times outside of prayer together in the community room talking or playing games, or go for a walk. The joy continues through the eight days of the Easter Octave, with proper antiphons in the liturgy and alleluias abounding.
Resurrexit, sicut dixit! Alleluia!
He is risen, as he said! Alleluia!